I knew I’d be coming back to Paris, but I never expected to return so soon. It was a spur of the moment idea that gained traction when I found an airfare too cheap to ignore.
The picture above is one of my favorites from this trip. As I noticed the elements of this image coming together, I made every effort to get as close as I could in the spare seconds I had before I took this shot. I actually have a sequence of three shots. The first two images I have show her puckering up before she notices me. As I got a few feet closer, she rolled her eyes and that’s the shot I wanted. While the background is busy, I think the subject is strong enough to overcome the distraction.
The moped windshield and the retracting shield on both of their helmets seem to be bouncing the sunlight in a favorable direction since much of her face and her front neckline are illuminated. One of the mirrors on the moped might also be reflecting some light. I like everything about her posture including her symmetrically positioned hands resting on the seat of the moped.
Paris is such an easy place to capture moments of affection, and like fashion, it isn’t limited to certain age groups. I’m always looking to capture these public displays of affection because unlike anywhere else, it just seems to belong here. In the picture above, I love the dappled light on the subjects and how the folds in their shirts are so well defined by light and shadow.
This time I started noticing hair color. Normally when I see bold hair colors, the clothing seems to reinforce the hair color statement, but not this time. Actually, the last picture is the exception to what I saw.
I got an early start on a sunny morning to capture long shadows, silhouettes and soft light. I made my way over to the Canal Saint-Martin and noticed this woman who just lit her cigarette. It was the sunlight bouncing off the sidewalk and her shirt, and lighting the underside of her chin that caught my attention. Part of her face is also rim lit by the sun.
As I started my morning walk, I noticed several interesting subjects pass by me. In a way I was sleep walking since I failed to capture them in the moment. I stopped in my tracks, surveyed the scene below and waited until an interesting subject passed through my frame. The woman in the hat below showed up first and waited to catch a bus. Then the guy on the bike made his way down the hill. I like the long shadow projected on the cobblestone street, and the white gloves he happens to be wearing.
A minute later, the Vespa came around the corner. In addition to the long shadow, I like how the man’s attention has been re-directed from the cobblestone road.
It’s always interesting to notice the non-verbal communication among adults when things aren’t going well. I see this all the time and I decided to start capturing it. The first image below was actually taken in Palavas-les-Flots on the Mediterranean coast when we were visiting Montpellier. I saw this couple talking to each other when I was further away, and as I got closer, they seemed to reach an impasse, and the body language says it all. Since there were two French flags flying, in front of a clear sky, I had to leave this in color.
Here’s another out of sync moment, and the guy clearly doesn’t like what he’s hearing.
Picnics don’t always take place in the park. I stumbled upon this scene in the Latin Quarter. Who needs a patch of grass to sit on when you can stand on a cobblestone street and have a stare down contest with the family dog.
In the pictures below, a woman makes it a picnic to-go. Then, a park bench gets turned into a picnic table. And the last image reminded me of a scene we’ve seen painted before by Seurat and Renoir that takes place on the bank of a lake or river, except here the subjects are more casually dressed and there’s a high-tech stroller in the frame..
The parks are also a fabulous location to capture all kinds of behaviors and expressions.
Here are a few more shots from an afternoon stroll through Luxembourg Gardens.
They call it Pétanque, and the next trip to Paris will include a picnic on a bench at courtside to take in the atmosphere of this game. In the shot below, I like the lighting, the shadows and symmetry of the two men as it relates to their hands, the position of their feet and how each of them have their weight on their right foot. It looks like the woman is setting things straight as she points to the position of the steel boules and the small hardwood ball called a bouchan (cork), or a cochonnet (piglet) or simply le petit.
Here’s another shot taken from the gallery.
Finally, an assortment of other shots captured on the streets of Paris.
